Soil Matters

Learn more at www.soilfoodweb.com

Thoughts Are Thoughts & Nothing More.

**trigger warning: suicide

I hear and read a lot about mental illness and the ways that my fellow humans are effected by it.

I'm a successful CBT patient and as I've conveyed to some of you, cognitive behavioral therapy has helped me immensely.

One thing that my therapist taught me is that thoughts are just thoughts.

We cannot control them
We cannot stop them
Thinking them does not make us what the thought is.

For instance, if you catch yourself thinking about harming someone, it doesn't mean that you're a murderer.

If you catch yourself thinking about killing yourself, it does not mean that you should or that your core being wants you to.

I truly find that calling it something alluring like "suicidal ideation" is part of the problem!

Ideation? 

C'mon ... suicidal thoughts is what that means and hearing the word "thoughts" is better than using the word "ideation" that makes it seem like it's some core inherent thing that you cannot change.

If you're having these thoughts, challenge them!

Ask yourself: if my situation were different, would I still want that to be?

I think about going to the long sleep almost once a week these days. But I challenge it.

Feeling or thinking is one thing.

Doing is something totally different.

Be well.   Reach out.  You are loved.

#WeAreOne 

Your Biology on Cannabinoids

Sussex Kush -- Congrats Harry & Meghan!!

***this post is SATIRE.

World leaders in every country are frantically searching for the right wedding gift for the newest royal couple, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.  At 24 Sussex in the nation’s capital, the ideas have been flying around since the couple announced their wedding date.

One would think that this job should fall to the Prime Minister’s wife who undoubtedly has more time than he. Sophie was full of ideas, her eye always good at finding fashion-friendly ways of representing Canada. However as we learned in a previously reported Verp piece, Justin has been visiting the growrooms of some of Canada’s legal Cannabis producers. This and the alleged cached history of the words “relaxation” and “terpenes” on Justin’s laptop have led Verp to discover what Canada’s gift to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be.

Justin has commissioned the propagation of three unique Cannabis strains to be grown in the royal gardens and to fill the lucky couple’s home remedy cabinet, a place where Cannabis derivatives will no doubt feel right at home.  No doubt gifts will be opened among others so this is the reaction I predict:



The three strains will comprise of a high-cbd sativa for mornings, a balanced 1-1 sativa for daytime, and a high thc indica for some royally relaxing snuggle time. It is as yet unknown which producers were gifted this royal opportunity but we’ll no doubt find out soon.  The word across the industry is that master growers across Canada have been splicing and cloning, modifying and breeding selectively for months trying to create these strains.

We contacted several verp cultivating correspondents who have their own predictions for strain phenotype, name, and terpene profile:

@BigBuds79 predicts:

“The high CBD sativa will be for morning vaping with a heavy front note of lemon to match the lemon elderberry wedding cake, one of the bride’s favourite flavours.  The dominant terpene will therefore be limonene for its incredibly uplifting effects. All the go-getters in the royal realm are rumoured to favour Haze varieties and they never go out of style, but an high CBD and low THC Haze is rare.  In honour of the Duchess I’d name this strain “Lemon LiftHer CBD”.

@GreenOnThe8th predicts:

“The daytime 1-1 will also be a sativa but a more masculine Diesel type in honour of the rugged groom.  The dominant terpene will be the woodsy yet spicy Humulene. I can see Harry making this into a vapable concentrate for that mid-day crunch a busy Duke must face.  I’d name this one “Ginger D” to honour the Duke of Sussex.”

@MedicineBush predicts:

“From what I’ve read about Harry and Meghan, this kind of high-caliber power couple requires an indica strain none other than a Master Kush. I predict H & M like to get their royal chill on and waste no time doing it so this high THC night time strain will be heavy on the Myrcine.  I’d name it “Cambridge Kush” but a buddy who works at one of LPs told me he heard Justin say he wanted one of them called “Sussex Kush” so the couple would think of him every time they sparked one up.”

So there you have it folks!  Canada’s wedding gift will surely be the most unique and the most sustainable gift the royal couple will receive.  Of course, it’s unknown exactly how many export laws this gift will ignore but the reaction from the opposition party is something we predict to be worth the watch.  For our leader though, a project like this can awaken instinctual urges to garden so I’m left wondering, when C45 starts will there be four plants growing at 24 Sussex?

CNN weed 4 pot vs pills CNN SPECIAL REPORT

Boveda Home Grow Journal

After many years of blogging for therapy I'm finally making my career as a writer.  I write for Boveda, the world leader in 2-way humidity control.  Read more about their product here.

My first series with Boveda is my grow journal which follows me along the path to legally growing my own medicinal Cannabis in Canada.

"Boveda Home Grow Part 1:  Eager To Garden & Legal To Do It"

Your Cannabis Buds Deserve Boveda

A few months back I wrote an article about these crazy little Boveda packs that come with my Cannabis orders from a legal LP.  Fast forward to today and I  now promote this product to anyone and everyone who will listen because I know that they add value to my life.  If you're looking for other ways to stay up-to-date on how Boveda can add value to your life, check out and follow them here:
 website, Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter 

Here's why I love Boveda packs:

Back in the day, smokers kept their stash wherever they deemed it to be safe.  I remember helping a friend tear off squares of foil to wrap one gram nugs in so she could ration her use.  Foil doesn't keep anything fresh especially not your Cannabis!  But as we age we learn and as our appreciation and understanding of Cannabis grows, we see the value in preserving our buds in air-tight containers or bags whenever we can.

Cannabis begins to degrade the minute it's cut down.  First to go is the moisture and depending on the aridity in your drying room, some of the plant's natural lipids will degrade as well.  Suspended inside these lipids and waxes in a structure known as a trichome are terpenes, aromatherapeutic compounds found in nature.  Terpenes are what make your Cannabis stink so sweet, sour, or as pungent as body odor!  Tests have shown that when Cannabis is left to over-dry, it can lose up to 15% of its terpenes.

Terpenes are not the only loss over-drying can cause.  As you may know, a few of our beloved Cannabinoids have an acid attached to them in their natural form.  The bond binding that acid to the rest of the molecule is very weak and so over-drying can cause it to break off prematurely resulting in a more sedative effect upon ingestion.  In fact, after the acid is broken off effectively converting THC-a into THC, even further degradation can then turn THC into CBN or Cannabinol and CBN is insomnia's nemesis.

Opening a fresh bag or bottle of the Goddess's gift to humanity is one of those really great moments in life.  Wouldn't it be great if the last nug of the bag or the bottle were as terpene-rich and pungent as the first nug was?  I'm here to tell you it can be done by controlling the relative humidity inside that air-tight storage container.

Cannabinoids and terpenes like to be kept at a relative humidity level between 58% and 62% and when kept there, your buds will stay fresh for much much longer.  Boveda is the leader in 2-way humidity control and they're out to keep all the buds fresh.  No bud left behind!  They've designed this incredibly effective pack that emits purified water vapor through a reverse osmosis membrane to parched bud while the saltwater mixture inside pulls in any extra moisture.  The fluid inside the membrane is as natural as are the plant products it strives to preserve.

I've personally been using my Boveda packs for many months now to give life back to some of that less-than-fresh producer Cannabis I receive.  The smoking or vaping experience is a step above when you can actually taste those natural compounds in your exhale.  I'm also now legal to grow my own Cannabis plants so I'm eager to cure my harvest with Boveda in a few months as well.

Cannabis is a valuable commodity and most of us will do anything to preserve it for as long as it's in our possession.  Boveda packs make it easier to do that.